HAMILTON — Former candidates, critics and college sophomores are clamoring over the chance to fill a vacant seat on the school board.

According to a list provided by the school district, 14 people have submitted applications to replace former board member Stephanie Pratico, who resigned from her seat earlier this month after being named to the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities.

The school board will publicly interview the board candidates at a future meeting, business administrator Katie Attwood said this week.

Among the candidates are D’Jalma Lopez and Matt Gallello, two recent high school graduates who make a habit of attending every school board meeting (and some municipal government meetings as well).

Lopez, who graduated from Steinert High School in 2013, said the duo are closer in age to students, allowing them to provide the most relevant perspective on issues brought before the board.

“Who knows the schools better than us, who have been in them for 13-plus years,” said Lopez, will be in his sophomore year at Rider University this fall. “Middle school and high school are fresh in our minds. We know what the kids go through.”

Gallello, a Nottingham High School graduate who will be a sophomore at The College of New Jersey, said the presence of younger graduates on the board would bring much-needed new life to the dais.

“We have 12,000 kids in a town of 90,000 people, and there’s no representation of that currently on the school board,” Gallello said. “Every time they go to fill a seat — whether it’s short-term or people who run for longer seats — it’s recycling. It’s the people who have already been involved on the board or in the district. It’s time for new people.”

Whoever the board nominates will serve for the remainder of Pratico’s term, which expires on Dec. 31. The candidate can choose to run for reelection to another three-year term.

Throwing his hat in the ring is Greg Schultz, a facilities manager who ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2012 and 2013.

In those campaigns, Schultz focused on bringing expertise to facilities issues — including more than $200 million of recommended repairs — and the same rings true now, he said.

“Infrastructure is my main goal and has always been my main goal,” Schultz said. “They’re going to be doing a referendum on something like this, and my strength has been in facilities and infrastructure.”

Garret Hengeli, a noise, safety and environmental specialist at Trenton-Mercer Airport, submitted his name for the seat with the hopes of ensuring students have access to a bright future.

“Any great movement for this nation, whether it’s a cure for cancer, going to Mars or peace in the Middle East, is going to come from a child who was most likely educated in a public school,” Hengeli said.

And while Chrysti Neuman doesn’t have any children in the district, she was drawn to the seat as a product of Hamilton schools.

“How could you not want to be involved in making a difference in the education of the children of the township,” Neuman said.

The same is true for Sherry Morency, who is “just looking for an opportunity to have a chance to make a difference.

“I want to assist in making a change the ways people’s concerns are addressed,” she said.

In addition, former district PTA president Jennifer Kraemer and George Fisher, a frequent board critic who has decried a history of nepotism in hiring decisions, also submitted their names for consideration.

Former township Republican Club president Fred Brodzinski, a college educator, also is seeking the seat.